


Ring, ring, won't you give me a call?

by Pearlislove



Series: Mamma Mia oneshots [15]
Category: Mamma Mia! (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 22:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16027361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlislove/pseuds/Pearlislove
Summary: "Rign, ring, won't you give me a call? Rign, ring, the happiest sound of them all..."Waiting for the call, Ruby stare at the horrifically outdated phone screwed to the wall, and wonder how many times her daughter and granddaughter had done the same. Twenty-five years Donna and her daughter had owned the Hotel.How many times had the phone not rung in all those years?





	Ring, ring, won't you give me a call?

**Author's Note:**

> Inspiered by a Fanfic inspiration list of Tumblr, where one of the points was to write a song-fic. 
> 
> For some reason, Ring-Ring (by ABBA naturally) popped into my head, and this fanfic happened!

Ruby sat down, staring at the telephone.  
  
Sophie had gone to the Hospital with Sky and her dads, and Fernando was busy with the guests. That left Ruby in the manager's office, patiently waiting for the phone to ring with an update from either of them.  
  
She knew how lucky she was. She hadn't been there for the birth of her granddaughter, but now she got to be there for the birth of her great grandchild. A lot of people never got to live long enough to experience that.  
  
"Ring, ring, why don't you give me a call? Ring, ring, the happiest sound of them all...Ring, ring, I stare at the phone on the wall, and I sit all alone impatiently." Ruby hummed to herself, singing a long forgotten hit from the early days of her career.   
  
Waiting for the call, she stare at the horrifically outdated phone screwed to the wall, and wonder how many times her daughter and granddaughter had done the same. Twenty-five years Donna and her daughter had owned the Hotel, and they had most likely had the same phone all along.   
  
"I was sitting by the phone, I was waiting all alone...Baby by myself I sit and wait and wonder about you." Ruby can almost picture it. The blonde curls and the hunched shoulders as Donna leaned forward, supporting her elbow on her knee and putting her head on her hand.  
  
When she was little, Ruby warned Donna it would make her back hurt if she did it for too long, but she never listened. It was her thinking position, and she kept it.  
  
"Ring, ring, why don't you give me a call? Ring, ring, the happiest sound of them all...Ring, ring, I stare at the phone on the wall. And I sit all alone impatiently"   
  
Ruby think of the only time she ever called Donna in the twenty-four years her daughter lived on the island, her heart aching with regret for how it had ended.  
  
It had all started with an unusual message on her answering machine. Ruby had just come back from a show, and even though she was exhausted and in need of sleep, she decided to  listen through it just in case.  
  
_"Hi, mum, could...could you just call me back? I know you're going out touring soon and is probably very busy but I really need to talk to you with in the next few weeks. Just, just come through for me this time."_  
  
The entire message, Donna was nearly crying, and Ruby could still remember the panic that sized her heart. Her daughter was the apple of her eye, and she hadn't even stopped to think about time difference as she called the number back.  
  
Back then, the only phone on the island had been located at a local bar called Fernando's, and Ruby had first had to listened to a disgruntled elderly woman lecturing her on keeping her daughter waiting in broken English for near on thirty minutes before she finally handed the phone over to Donna.  
  
_I am pregnant._  
  
The first words Donna had spoken to her in months felt like a stab to the gut, and Ruby saw no rational way of reacting. Not to this, not to her daughter doing all the wrong decision that she herself had once done.  
  
"It's a dark and dreary night. Seems like nothing's going right...Won't you tell me honey how can I go on here without you?" Ruby wish that the phone would ring. She doesn't want to keep dwelling on the memory her daughter that she cast aside, but there's nothing else to do as she wait in the silence.  
  
Fernando had begged for her to stay in the office, just in case they called the landline, and Ruby reluctantly agreed to do as he said. 

 

It wasn't as though she knew much of hotel management, either way, and had she not offered to be there, Fernando would have wanted to.   
  


They were scared and bewildered as they waited, uncertain what would happen as Sophie gave birth to her child.

  
"You were here and now you're gone. I know I did something wrong...I just can't believe that I could be so badly mistaken. Was it me or was it you? Tell me, were we really through? Won't you hear me cry and you will know that my heart is breaking..." Tears slip down Ruby's cheeks and her heart ache solemnly.    
  
Two years   
  
That was how late Ruby had been to reunite with her daughter. Two years earlier, and Donna would still have been alive when Ruby came to the island.

 

But she hadn't, and by the time she came around, her little girl was dead. It was an intense pain that burns like acid despite all the years of silence that had passed between them, and Ruby doubted she would ever truly get over it.

 

She wanted her daughter back, but knew it was impossible. 

 

*Riiiiing*

 

The sound of the phone abruptly snapped Ruby out of her thoughts. Loud and obnoxious, it echoed around the room as she lifted her tear-drenched face to look at the phone, vibrating in its holder.

 

Her heart suddenly racing, she quickly reached out and unhooked it, pushing it against her ear. “Ruby Sheridan, Bella Donna Hotel” Ruby answered, remembering at the last second that they were a functioning hotel and it could be anyone calling.

 

“Ruby? It's me, Harry” The voice on the other end is unmistakable, and Ruby can tell he is extremely happy. “He is here”   

 

“He? It's a boy?” Ruby is grinning, her hole spirit lifting as soon as she heard Harry's voice. Though sophie had failed to keep the pregnancy hidden, she had succeeded in not revealing the gender, and the final reveal made Ruby's heart melt. “I'm so happy it went alright.”

 

“Oh yes” Harry agreed hole heartedly. “Sophie is perfectly alright, and the little boy is the most adorable thing we've ever seen.”

  
  


“I wish I could see him” Ruby mumbled happily. She was a great grandmother. This was real, and she loved it more than she ever imagined she would.

  
  


“Well, actually…” Harry began, only to be interrupted.

 

“Hey Harry, have you finished with Ruby yet? Little princess want your ass back in there!” Bill Andersson's voice echoes through the phone, and Ruby laughed at his antics. 

 

“Fine! Talk to her yourself!” Harry replied angrily, the line filling with static noises as the phone was handed from one person to the next person.

 

“Hey, Ruby, what did Harry tell you?” Bill asked after the short break, his voice as jolly as ever. 

 

“That I got a grandson. He was going to say some more, but an over-confident jackass interrupted him.” Ruby smiled, her sadness as good as blown away. “What's up Bill darling?”

 

“Sophie want you and Fernando to come here.” Bill said matter of factly. “She won't reveal the name they've decided till you're all here.” He complained. “Little miss princess is so demanding, we need a female to handle her!”

 

Hearing all this Ruby laughed heartily. From the corned of her eye, she saw Fernando walking into the room. “Alright Bill, we'll be there as soon as possible.” She hung up, turning around to look at her husband over the back of the chair. “Hello, Fernando”

  
  


“Everything alright, mi amor?” Fernando’s voice was leveled, but Ruby could tell he was hiding his excitement under the surface. He hadn't been there when neither Donna nor Sophie were born, but now he got to be present for the birth of his great grandson instead. “I heard that you were talking to Bill” He said meaningfully.

 

“Indeed. He had some news.” Smiling Ruby watched as her husband came closer to him, slowly rising from her chair to meet him. 

 

“And?” Fernando asked impatiently, his hands closing around his wife's waist.

 

“We have a great grandson” Ruby said, smiling brightly as she wrapped her arms around her husband's neck. “We have a great  grandson” She repeated, sudden tears welling up in her eyes as the statement started to sink in.

 

She was a great grandmother

  
  


“A boy? That's terrific!” Fernando exclaimed, blissful as he hugged his wife closer, putting his hands on each side of her face. “It's amazing, mi amor. I can not wait to meet him” He wanted to be more colourful, more expressive, but it was not really in his nature,and so he settled for those words. Fernando knew that Ruby understood how he felt either way.

 

Ruby nodded, tears still burning in her eyes as she watched her husband wahsed in happiness. Slowly, she tried to talk, and her voice cracked. “I'm sorry” She apologised, trying to push away the sudden anguish bubbling up like an erupting volcano inside her. “I wish Donna was here for this” Ruby whispered, tears slipping from her eyes as she hide her face against Fernando’s shoulder. “Our daughter should be here for this.”

  
  


Horrified at the sudden wave of sadness, Fernando simply held his wife as she cuddled against him. “I know, Ruby. I know.” Fernando agreed, feeling his own eyes wetting with tears as Ruby cried. It hurt to know how much his daughter's early death had robbed her of, but he knew one had to be grateful for what they had. “But we are still here. Sophie may have lost her mother, but she still has her grandmother, and it makes all the differences.” 

 

“I suppose you're right” Ruby smiled weakly, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder. “Bill said that Sophie wanted us to come to the hospital. Apparently, she won't reveal the name of the new baby until she got the whole family gathered.” She told him.

 

“Then we'll go” Fernando smiled, lifting Ruby away from his shoulder so that he could see her face. Gently, he wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Life will never be perfect, it will never be fair, but there will always be love and hope.” Comforting Ruby, he reached out to give her a kiss on the lips. “We will be alright, mi amor.”

 

Ruby nodded. “Let's go. I want to meet my great-grandchild.” She offered her hand to Fernando, happy when he took it in his and squeezed it tight.

 

Life wasn't perfect. There was still many things that Ruby wished would be different.  But she had gotten her first great-grandchild, and that was reason enough to smile.

 

_ Ring, ring, won't you give me a call? Ring, ring, the happiest sound of them all... _  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Please comment!


End file.
